Izzy nodded and tried to keep her expression neutral. Beau had told her about the foundation before they were anything more than just working together.
It wasn’t that she cared if Michaela knew there was something going on between her and Beau. But for the same reason she hadn’t told Priya, she didn’t quite want to say anything to Michaela. It felt good, for this to be between just her and Beau. At least for now.
“Anyway, he asked me if I could help him with that stuff, so somehow I ended up working for him full-time.” She shrugged. “It’s kind of a weird job, but it’s super flexible with a baby—Beau doesn’t care if I’m late some mornings if the baby has made it impossible to get out the door, or if I need an emergency day off because he’s sick, or if I bring him some days for an hour or two if I need to, or whatever.”
Izzy tried to imagine how Beau would have functioned for the past year if he hadn’t had Michaela around. She couldn’t.
“Well, thank goodness he had you,” Izzy said. “He would have been a mess otherwise.”
“More of a mess, you mean.” Michaela glanced over at Izzy. “I was worried about him, you know.”
“Oh?” Izzy looked at her, but her eyes were on the road. “Just in general, or…?”
Michaela nodded. “Just in general,” she said. “And or.”
Yeah. Anyone who saw Beau every day would have been worried about him. At least, anyone who cared about him would.
“I knew he was anxious about this book, even though—maybe especially because—he never talked about it,” Michaela said. “How’s it going now, anyway? Good, it seems?”
Izzy smiled. “Really good. I’m not even sure if Beau realizes how much he’s done and how far he’s gone. He’s worked so hard on it. I’m just really proud of him for everything he’s done—I think the book is going to be great.”
“Oh, that’s so good to hear,” Michaela said.
Izzy knew she was gushing, but it was true. He had worked so hard. But she really needed to stop talking about Beau before she said too much.
“Okay, tell me more about this wedding, and what kind of dress you’re looking for. We need a plan of attack.”
Michaela’s smile dropped away. “Ideally, I’d like something that looks roughly like a tea cozy. Can we find that?”
Izzy laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Friday, at the end of their library session, Beau closed his laptop and smiled at her.
“Want to go surfing tomorrow morning? It’s supposed to rain, so it won’t be that crowded at the beach.”
Izzy raised her eyebrows at him. “I feel like this is one of the times when the crowds have a point. Won’t it be freezing in the water? And won’t the waves be too big for me?”
Beau shook his head as they both got up to leave the library. “I checked the surf report—the waves won’t be that high. It’s not going to be windy, just a little rain. Perfect weather for a novice.” He reached for her shoulder as they walked toward the door but stopped himself. “Plus, I’ll be there. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Okay,” she said. “Surfing tomorrow morning sounds great.”
Was this a date? she wondered. Were they “dating”? Technically, they’d gone out on exactly one date. Also technically, it had only been less than a week since they’d first kissed, but then they’d spent all day together Saturday and Sunday, and then this week they’d spent as much time together as possible. It was sort of weird, to be dating someone you were living with.
She smiled to herself. Weird, but good.
They left for the beach at seven the next morning. Izzy had objected when Beau had proposed the time—he’d said that’s when “real surfers” go out—but she was so used to getting up at six for work during the week that it was a halfhearted protest.
Once they were in the water, Izzy managed to stand up on the board after just the second time she tried. And she stayed standing up for five whole seconds before she fell off. She counted.
“Wow,” Beau said, after she surfaced in the water. “I’m impressed. Someone looks like she’s been practicing her balance.”
She had been, actually.
“Great job,” he said as he leaned toward her. Usually, when they stood this close to each other, Izzy felt so much smaller than Beau. But here, in the water, they were face-to-face. She liked it.
And it made her think of how it would be elsewhere, to be this close when they looked at each other, when they kissed each other.
They kissed in the water for a while, Izzy holding on to Beau with one arm, until someone swam by them and whistled, and they broke apart.
Beau motioned to Izzy. “Okay, let’s try that again,” he said. He had a playful look on his face. “But…I’m just…curious. Which swimsuit are you wearing underneath that wet suit?”
Izzy didn’t try to stop the grin that spread across her face. “The striped one.”
Beau closed his eyes and took a long breath before he opened them.
“I was afraid of that. Okay. All right. Going to do my best to concentrate on this”—he gestured to the water—“and not that”—he gestured to her—“but it’s going to be a challenge.”
Izzy smiled as she pulled herself onto the board. She’d never been with someone who was so excited by her before. Guys had been interested in her, sure. But both excited and willing to show it? She didn’t know if she’d even known that was possible.
She took a deep breath and stood up. As she looked out at the cold, drizzly, quiet beach, she realized something else. She was just as excited by Beau. Did he know that? She didn’t know. She’d held herself back, and she knew why. She’d been nervous to trust him, to declare herself, to ask for what she wanted. Nervous that if she did, everything would fall apart.
But if she’d learned one thing from this whole experience in California, it had been that she wouldn’t get what she wanted until she asked for it.
A wave lifted the surfboard and carried her all the way in to shore. She lifted her arms, triumphant, and before she knew it, Beau picked her up and swung her around.
“You did it!”
She threw her arms around him and kissed him. “I did it!”
After a long kiss, she slid down his body and back onto the sand.
“Hey, Beau?” she said.
“Yeah?” He smiled down at her.
“Let’s go home.”
He took her hand on the walk to the car, just like he had after they’d sat on this same beach and kissed for the first time. He kept her hand in his all the way up the hill to the house as they drove through the rain, which had started coming down harder since they’d left the beach.
“I just remembered something,” Beau said, when they turned into the drive.
Izzy turned to him. “Yeah?”
He squeezed her hand. “It’s Saturday. We have the house to ourselves.”
They were all over each other as soon as they walked in the front door. Her arms were around his neck, his hands clutched her back, and they kissed like it had been weeks since they’d touched each other, months since they’d kissed. They kissed like their kisses were oxygen, like they needed them to breathe. Beau pushed the strap of her sundress down and kissed her neck, her collarbone, her shoulder, her arm. His lips on her skin made her gasp.
He straightened up, and she moved her hands up his chest. She took a handful of his shirt in her hand and pulled him closer. She could feel the smile on his lips as he kissed her again.
Finally, she pulled back and looked him in the eye. “Beau?”
“Yeah?” He was out of breath. So was she.
“Why don’t we go to your room?”
He brushed his finger across her cheek. “Izzy. Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Absolutely.”
He smiled and took her hand. He led her down the hall, past Michaela’s office, past the kitchen, and opened the door at the very end of the hall. She looked around as she walked inside. Beau’s room had light gray walls, a huge window that overlooked the rose garden, and a very big bed. Looking at the bed suddenly made her nervous.
“Do you know, until this minute, I had no idea where your room was?” she said.
He grinned. “Where else did you think it could be?”
She shrugged. “This house has many hidden secret rooms, it could have been anywhere! If you’d led me up to the third floor, I would have just nodded and been like, I always thought there were only two floors, but guess I just didn’t see that other staircase.”
He cupped her face in his hands and laughed. She laughed with him. She wasn’t nervous anymore. She was glad to be here, with him.
“How in the world did I ever get so lucky as I was the day you walked into this house?”
And then he kissed her again. They stood there, kissing, until they were sitting on his bed, kissing, until they were lying down, kissing. And it felt so good, to be so close to him, to see him this way, to kiss him, to touch him.
He kissed her softly as he ran one hand up the side of her body. “Happy?” he asked.